Ulster Rugby vs Zebre

ULSTER U19 SQUAD CELEBRATING INTER-PROVINCIAL SUCCESS...

try to secure the deserved 23-15 win for the Ulster U19 team. The following week, the Ulster team set of for Cork to take on the Munster U19 team at Cork Institute of Technology. Three of the team had been in the U20/Academy squad the previous evening but arrived safely in Cork the night before the match none the worse for their experiences in Limerick. The game against Munster saw the U19 team 6-5 down at half time. However, there was enough belief in the squad that they had the ability to turn that deficit around. So it proved to be with the Ulster U19 team emerging as 15-13 winners after a somewhat nervous 14 minutes of added time in the second half! The third and final Inter-Provincial game the following week saw the team return to the RBAI grounds, where they would face a very spirited and dogged Connacht U19 team. The simple fact was that victory in this game would secure the U19 Inter-Provincial Championship for the Ulster team. 70 minutes later, and with a 66-7 victory secured, the U19 Inter-Provincial Championship deservedly returned to Ulster for the first time in three seasons. The team management would like to congratulate all the players involved with the U19 squad throughout the season. Their hard work, on and off the pitch, was rewarded with a fully deserved Inter- Provincial Championship. We welcome the team on to the pitch at half time to present their trophy to the President of IRFU (Ulster Branch) John McKibbin.

In preparation for the Inter-Provincial series of games the Ulster U19 squad had two games. The first saw a squad of 26 players travel to the Oratory School, Reading, for a game against an experienced Irish Exiles U20 squad. This game was well contested with all available players getting a run out in the course of the match which the U19 team won by 33-10. This trip proved to be useful in terms of the players and management bonding both on and off the pitch. Next up was a visit to Banbridge RFC, where the Ulster U19 squad took on an U18 team from the Italian Academy. The standard of opposition was something of an unknown quality and the Ulster U19 management team used the game, once again, as an opportunity to play an extended squad of players which helped them make objective decisions regarding their final selections for the Inter-Provincial games. The Ulster U19 team won this game against the Italian Academy team by 34-0. The first Inter-Provincial game was played against Leinster at RBAI playing fields at Osborne Park in early September. The game was played on great pitch conditions and was very evenly contested with a very good Leinster team well in contention throughout. That was until the final play of the game, with the score at 15-15, when a moment of magic from James Hume saw him take on the Leinster defence from the half way line and finish with a fine try in the corner. James converted the

ULSTER U19 SQUAD 2016/17

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